Duration: 7 Days / 6 Nights
Day 1
Airport pick-up service at Sofia Airport and transfer to the hotel. Accommodation. Dinner.
Day 2
Breakfast. Walking tour across Sofia. A visit to the Presidency courtyard and the Rotunda St. George, which is one of the oldest architectural monuments in Sofia and the only one building in the city preserved up to the roof dated back to the Roman Empire.
The tour passes along the Cathedral “St. Nedelya” – one of the spiritual beauties of the capital and a bearer of a centuries-old tradition.|
The newly discovered Ancient complex “Serdika” is going to be visited afterwards. The greatest attraction is the main street of ancient town Serdika – named Dekumanus Maksimus, which authentic pavement is almost entirely preserved.
Three underground levels form an outdoor underground museum that shows three separate neighborhoods. Under the glass dome, an art space is created for concerts and productions.
Next is a visit of the Church „St. Nikolay“, built in 1907 – 1914, designed by the Russian architect M. Preobrazhenski. In the crypt of the temple is the tomb of St. Seraphim Sobolev, who was officially canonized on 25 and 26 February 2016 by the Russian and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, considered as the symbol of the Bulgarian capital is going to be visited next. The Cathedral was built in honor of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, whose army in 1878 liberates Bulgaria from the five centuries of Ottoman domination.
Its construction began in 1904 and ended eight years later. The temple’s interior is unique and impresses with magnificent marble decoration and frescoes.
Visit to Dragalevtsi Monastery „St. Virgin Mary Vitosha“, a Bulgarian girls’ monastery, situated in the Vitosha mountain, over Sofia. It is believed to have been founded in 1345 by Tsar Ivan Alexander. The monastery brings with it a hundred-year history. In addition to kings, Bulgarian revolutionaries, such as Vasil Levski and Ilyo Voyvoda, stayed in the monastery. The monastery is a complex of church, residential and commercial buildings. Today the monastery walls tell about the masterpieces of the icon-painters of the Middle Ages. Overnight.
Day 3
Breakfast. Departure to Osenovlach Monastery, better known as the „Seven Thrones“. Founded in the 11th century, a cultural and educational center, a place where books were copied over the centuries, and at the end of the 18th century, Sophronius Vrachanski was also a Bulgarian clergyman and a national almanac. The oldest preserved building in the monastery is the congregational church, which is believed to have been built in 10-11 century. Over the years, the temple and the monastery have been repeatedly demolished and rebuilt. In its present form, the church has existed since 1815. The name of the monastery comes from the specific division of the temple – a cross-shaped naos and six thrones (chapel). The shrouded iconostases of the church and the chapels date back to the 17th-18th centuries, with plant ornaments, animal images, and biblical stories. Icons with carved frames are made by local masters. One of the most interesting works of the masters is the wooden chandelier „Horo“, created in 1815. The chandelier is made up of 15 parts with stained woodcarving scenes.
Departure for the Skull. Visiting the Cherepish Monastery „Assumption“. The monastery was built during the reign of King Ivan Shishman (ruled 1371-1395). There is a legend according to which the name of the monastery comes from the dead soldiers’ bones after the battle of the 14th century between Tsar Ivan Shishman and the Ottoman invaders. At the end of the 16th century Saint Pimen Zografski (a Bulgarian painter, writer, and a painter) restored the monastery and turned it into a literary and spiritual center. In the monastery, in 1612, the famous „Cherepish Fourth Gospel“ was made with gilded hardware. The active literary activity in the holy cloister continued in the 18th century. In 1784, a two-storey ossuary was built in the rocks above the monastery whose chapel was dedicated to „St. John the Baptist „. Departure to Etropole Monastery. Accommodation. Overnight.
Day 4
Breakfast. Excursion to Etropole Monastery „Holy Trinity“. It is believed to have been founded in the 12th century. It is a complex of church, residential and commercial buildings. The church was built in 1859. The complex also includes two chapels – „St. John the Baptist „and“ St. St. Cosmas and Damian. “ In the 16th-17th century the monastery was the largest spiritual center in northern Bulgaria. Next to it is the Karov Water Spring Varovitets, which forms a beautiful waterfall. The monastery was declared a monument of culture. The temple feast is on Pentecost (Holy Trinity Day). Departure to Dryanovo. Visit to Dryanovo Monastery „St. Archangel Michael“. It plays a strategically important role in the preparation of the April Uprising, with large stocks of food and weapons concentrated here. It was founded in the second Bulgarian state – the beginning of the 12th century in the Tsarkvistheto area – near the summer residence of the Bulgarian kings from the Assen Dynasty. During the Ottoman rule, it was twice destroyed and robbed (14th and 17th centuries) but quickly recovered. Accommodation. Overnight.
Day 5
Breakfast. Departure to Architectural and Ethnographic Complex „Etar“. Visit to Etar Architectural and Ethnographic Complex, the only open-air museum of its kind. It represents the authentic Bulgarian culture, beauties and craftsmanship. It contains the only collection of water-powered facilities in Bulgaria, containing 10 active objects. Due to this fact, the water wheel has become an emblem of the complex. The artisan charshia presents 16 models of Balkan architecture that reveals the unique talents of the Renaissance builders. Departure to Sokolski Monastery, founded by Archimandrite Joseph Sokolski. In 1833, near the entrance of the nearby Sokola cave, he built a small wooden church and a stately building, and in 1834 a large temple was erected and lit by the help of people from the nearby villages in the place of the wooden buildings. The temple is a one-nave, one-apse, one-storey building and frescoes in it are made later.
Departure to Troyan. Visit to the Troyan Monastery „The Assumption of the Virgin“. The Troyan monastery as a monastery complex is the third largest in Bulgaria, a remarkable cultural monument of national importance.It is situated in the beautiful valley of the Cherni Osam River, 10 km south of the town of Troyan. The monastery was originally founded in 1600 and resumed in the period 1830 – 1865 in its present form, as an architectural style of the buildings belongs to the National Revival School. Which was built in the period 1835-1837 by master Konstantin from the village of Peshtera, Kyustendil on the site of an older church.
Dаy 6
Breakfast. Departure to Teteven. Visit to Glozhene monastery „St. Georgi the Victorious„. The monastery is about 17 km away from the village of Glozhene, where its name comes from. The monastery is visible from far away, situated on a rocky peak in the Teteven Mountain. It is believed that in the 13th century the Prince of Kiev, Gloz, who received the region as a gift from Tsar Ivan Assen II (ruled 1218 – 1241), built a monastery and a small fortress in the area. The monastery existed until the 17th century, and in the early 18th century the monks built a new monastery dedicated to „St. Georgi the Victorious“ on the high rock to protect themselves from the attacks of the Ottomans. For some time the two monasteries existed in parallel, being connected by a tunnel in the rocks. Departure to Sofia. Accommodation. Overnight.
Day 7
Breakfast. Transfer to Sofia Airport. Departure.
